Nestlé has for the first time set a target for increasing profit margins, marking a significant shift from its traditional sales-focused model as the Swiss company reacts to competitive pressures facing ...

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) set a profit margin target for the first time on Tuesday, responding to an industry slowdown and pressure from activist investor Third Point for greater near-term returns from the world's largest packaged food company. Investors were looking for Nestle's new chief executive Mark Schneider to demonstrate that it has a strong strategy to improve performance following four years of missing sales targets as the food sector's growth cools. While many multinationals turned to cost-cutting, inspired by industry-leading margins at Kraft-Heinz (KHC.O), Nestle and rival Unilever (ULVR.L) had argued that cutting too deep to deliver margin growth is a short-term solution.